This month we welcome Revd Preb Ronnie Crossman who takes on the role of Ministry Training Team Leader for Bath and Wells. In the new role Ronnie will be responsible for both Continuing Ministerial Development (CMD) and Initial Ministerial Education (IME) phase 2 in the diocese, and will also work collegiately to curate a programme that enables people in ministry to engage with the rich diversity of ministry contexts and mission opportunities in the diocese.
Ronnie says, “What excites me is bringing together the possibility of training development for both lay and ordained ministry. And thinking about how creative that can be in terms of sparking off ideas from those different groups of people. I’m excited about being part of a bigger team. So, although there’ll be the small training team, I’m aware there’s a lot of cross-over with the parish development team, and perhaps with education, so there will be lots of opportunity to do some quite creative work together and that really does excite me.”
Ronnie brings a wealth of experience to the role. She has been a university chaplain, worked briefly for the Lutheran Church in Bavaria, has worked in a Magnificat parish and within a multi-benefice rural ministry. She has also worked in a market town, was Team Missioner in Portishead and more recently vocations coordinator in the diocese of Salisbury.
“I’ve had the opportunity to experience and explore different ministries and responsibilities. I bring that practical experience into formation and development. However, every context will be different and in every context you have different understanding. I’ll pull these threads and the creativity is seeing what happens."